DFB Pokal: Bayern Munich 4 – 3 RW Erfurt
By: Angela | August 10th, 2008
FC Bayer Munich: M. van Bommel (C), M. Rensing, Ze Roberto, L. Podolski, M. Klose, C. Lell, P. Lahm, D. van Buyten, F. Lucio, T. Kroos, H. Altintop
RW Erfurt: D. Orlishausen, B. Pinske, N. Loose, M. Pohl, A. Schnetzler, M. Hauswald, S. Cinaz, T. Rockenbach, T. Judt, T. Semmer, M. Cannizzaro
Today’s match was the first round of the DFB Pokal. Bayern walked away with a win by handing Erfurt a 4-3 defeat. The score keeps them in their trend of scoring four goals against Erfurt each time they play them. I watched this game on a German channel with German commentary so it was a lot different for me. My German is pretty non-existent. I can pick up certain words here and there, but this forced me to pay much closer attention to the game and also helped me pick up some new words. The announcing was rather drab in comparison to what I’m use to, but it was interesting none the less.
I wasn’t very happy with this match. The pace was once again slow and the defensive line was complete crap. Rensing looked like he’d barely played a match in his life. van Buyten made some crucial mistakes, but he was left to be the lone defender since Lucio never bothered to show up from the middle of the first half on. I’m all set to have these really great ‘highlight of the match’ segments at the end of my posts, but how can I do that when my team doesn’t pull themselves together and play technically beautiful football? Last week the saving grace was Kroos and the addition of a gratuitous shirtless van Buyten shot. This week it was a yellow carded Mark with a gratuitous abs shot.
At the beginning of the match I was very hopeful. Bayern looked good and the were moving forward a lot. Erfurt was quick and had a more attacking style of play. The passes for the Bayern line were generally on target and right away Lahm scored. I thought this was going to be a stand up game for Bayern, but it was exactly the opposite. Somewhere around the middle of the first half, Lucio checked out completely and was no help to van Buyten. Where is Demichelis when you need him? Of course he has a valid excuse for not being in the line, but he was sorely missed today. van Buyten was off his game, but at the same time you can’t fault him when he’s getting no help. He saved Rensings butt at the end of the match where a shot from Erfurt threatened to tie the game once more and send it to penalties, but Daniel got his foot in there and kicked it out. The announcers commented about how Bayern had to win because if it went to penalties they’d miss their flight back to Munich.
I also think today was international pick on Toni Kroos day and see how often the opposition can knock him down, trip him, push him over, smack him and do as much damage necessary without drawing a card. It finally caught up to them near the middle of the second half, but it took awhile. Podolski’s only noticeable moment was when he scored. Why on earth they didn’t play Marcell Jansen is beyond me. I didn’t hear of him being unavailable. He is under-rated and under-used. It is time to let him shine. Personally, I think he’s one of the better pick-ups that Bayern has made lately. We definitely need Ribéry back as well.
Some parts of the game looked good, but others were so dismal that it didn’t matter how good the good moments were. Highlights I suppose would be Klose, Lahm, Kroos and Podolski all scoring, van Buyten redeeming himself with a stellar save near the end and I’m going to have to stick with Mark’s abs because overall, I wasn’t that impressed with the play. Hopefully it’s not a sign of things to come and hopefully I won’t be this cynical all season. 
Below is a break down of goals and yellow cards as they were awarded:
P. Lahm (6′), M. Cannizzaro (22′), L. Podolski (25′), Bunjaku (47′), Klose (57′), Bunjaku (67′), Kroos (80′)
A. Schnetzler, M. van Bommel, L. Podolski
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Tags: Daniel van Buyten, DFB Pokal, fc bayern, FC Bayern Munich, Lukas Podolski, mark van bommel, Matches, Michael Rensing, miroslav klose, Philipp Lahm, Recaps, RW Erfurt, Team News, Toni KroosSubscribe
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Comments
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van Buyten and Lucio are not a good paring because van Buyten lacks pace and cannot cover for Lucio when he goes forward and generally needs help dealing with any forward that has a bit of pace… it surprised me that van Buyten was not sold when Bayern were renewing the squad and replace with a defender who is quicker and has better positional sense but i guess Bayern expect Breno to develop into that kind of player. I think this ws a match where Bayern played a better prepared team that already played two competitive matches and had nothing to loose, these cup games are always good because they act as wake up call for Bayern. I expect a better match against Hamburg but i expect Bayern to concede at least one goal because a Hamburgs strikes will go after van Buyten especially when there is space created when Lucio goes forward.
Posted from
Barbados
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Lucio was terrible. Terrible. This match it had nothing to do with van Buyten’s pace and everything to do with Lucio not going forward and not showing up. van Buyten has been brilliant this pre-season, with Lucio. Lucio just didn’t bother to play this match.
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United States -
I also wanted to say when Lucio takes the ball forward and maintains control of it, he is brilliant, but today he just didn’t bother going forward, didn’t bother defending… didn’t bother playing. One of the goals he literally just stopped and watched the guy with the ball. He checked out of the game and van Buyten, as big as he is, is still only man and can’t cover everyone on his own without defensive help.
And I wanted to follow up on the sale: Bayern didn’t get rid of him because when it was being considered, Klinsmann was already on board and he specifically asked him to stay. Klinsmann knows what van Buyten is capable of when given the opportunity and when he has good defensive help.
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United States -
with this match as in the past van Buyten and Lucio lacked communication and chemistry, today although Lucio was not as aggressive as he should have been, he did not just stand around, he covered the players that were on his “side of the box” Lucio never runs around the box cutting out plays and blocking shots like Puyol, he relies more on finesse and mostly will only deal with stuff on his side and will leave his partner to fend for himself. van Buyten does not do well without assistance from a another quicker defender. he relies on his strength and areal ability, positioning himself while moving and being slow are van Buyten’s weaknesses, forwards will often move to the ball quicker than him, which lead to a goal today and he will often position himself badly while trying to keep up with with the movement of the opposition, which was his main mistake today. Today Lucio was too passive and simply did not make an effort to break his usual defending routine and cover for van Buyten.. against Hamburg he will have to make that effort.
Posted from
Barbados -
Scoring 4 goals is okay, but conceding three? And I’m getting seriously worried by the lack of exciting pace.
Posted from
Singapore -
Klinsmann never specifically asked van Buyten to stay, Bayern simply could not get a better defender for what they could sell Van Buyten for (they inquired to Chelsea about Boulahrouz), Klinsmann simply told van Buyten as he told all of Bayern’s player’s that he would evaluate them for himself and not rely on Hitzfeld’s previous team selections, when Magath was released the Lucio-van Buyten partnership conceded way too many goals, last season van Buyten lost his starting place and Bayern had the best defense in Germany. At Hamburg Boulahrouz covered for him because Boulahrouz style of play is active and aggressive. But at Bayern he has no natural partners.
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Barbados -
Is it possible to watch the match somehow? Will GolTV air it again, or is there any free stream on the net?
Posted from
Hungary -
John: There were several articles about Klinsmann asking van Buyten to stay. van Buyten himself has even said that he talked to them about leaving and he was asked to stay on and so he did.
Harry: Gol didn’t air this match. I don’t know if they have plans to air it at a later date as they often do that with some of the early games. I watched on a German channel yesterday that was streaming it.
Lynn: I agree with you completely. It’s bothersome when they play a really great game, lots of attacking and lots of forward movement but then they have a game like this where they look like they’re just learning to play together. It’s frustrating.
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United States -
those areticles which claim Klinsman asked van Buyten to stay are based on an article where Gordon Strachan from Celtic said “Jurgen Klinsmann has come to Munich and doesn’t think Daniel should leave.” and are basically journalists interpretations of that statement. As i said before Klinsman basically gave all the players the same message “I will evaluate you myself so don’t make any decisions based on Hitzfeld’s selections” of course even that was based on Uli Hoeneß’s belief that if the club had a mass exodus then it would cost more to bring in players of equal or better capability. Making sure nobody left was Bayern’s big priority this summer based on purely economic reasoning.
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United States -
It’s looking more and more like it’s a mindset problem, really. This kinda reminds me of the German NT too, which can be really great at times, but at certain matches, they just have the wrong mindset and disappoint fans and neutrals alike. We all know this team can be really great if they want to, but it’s as if they are all reluctant to play.
Posted from
Singapore -
Ugh. What a match. Ugh.
When it comes to the defensive line, all I can say for certain is that Demichelis is sorely missed. I agree that Lucio could, and probably should have done more – but I also have to concede that Van Buyten just had an off night. He has great skills, but Erfurt found his weakness (speed & agility) and made the most of them.
Van Buyten can play better, and I’m a fan of his. But I’m also a fan of FC Bayern – and if he doesn’t pick it up a bit, he’s going to be a liability for us.
That said – Kroos continues to shine. I miss Ribéry, as does the entire squad; am very curious to see, once he’s back, who else will start – Altintop is right on top of his game, Kroos has shown he’s fantastic. And Schweinsteiger isn’t bad, either…
Come on boys, I’m counting on you Friday!
Posted from
Germany -
Elizabeth: Just for clarities sake, while I’m a fan of a lot of the players, the team always comes first. I am perfectly capable of admitting that van Buyten had a bad game. I said so. He definitely had a bad day, but one bad game doesn’t overshadow the entire pre-season. The games up until Erfurt he was defensively brilliant. His talent shined quite a bit and I think our defensive line will benefit from having him. Erfurt just took advantage of the miscommunication between him and Lucio and Lucio’s lack of presence. I have seen Lucio perform much, much better and while it’s no secret that I dislike him, I never expected such a poor outing from him. Demichelis is a much needed link the defense. Lucio, like Podolski, tend to get bugs up their rears and decide that they will play great one game, dismal the next and not even bother to show up at all for the following. It’s rather annoying and they, Podolski especially, need to be working all games like they’re capable of.
Kroos is exceptional. He is one of the few that continues to turn in great match performances and keeps consistent. They should all take a few notes from him on how you’re suppose to be playing the game.
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United States -
Lucio did not have a very bad game he usually is more aggressive in anticipating and preemptively dealing with the opposition attacks, that game he sat back and dealt with what came to him which is not great but it didn’t make him a liability. Lucio has been the the cornerstone of Bayern’s defense since he signed from Leverkusen and unlike Podolski Lucio has done better than was expected of him, he has tied down some of Europe’s best strikers including Ibrahimovich, Henry, van Nistelrooy even Klose while he was at Bremen, thats why once Lucio has been fit and the game matters he starts and its why he was in the running be be captain and has been made a vice captain. Podolski has been publicly criticized by everybody from Hitzfeld to Hoeneß because of his lack of effort and bad attitude, that has certainly not been the case for Lucio whose defensive performances have been praised especially last season when he and Demichelis set a new record low for goals conceded.
Posted from
United States -
John: If you would’ve read my entire comment, you would’ve seen that my reference to having a very bad game was in reference to van Buyten.
Posted from
United States -
my talking about Lucio not have a very bad game was a response to you saying “I never expected such a poor outing from him” as your statement implied that Lucio had a very bad game.
Posted from
United States
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